Monika Wheeler

Member of the Executive Committee

Monika is a policy and strategy professional who has spent the majority of her career working as a senior adviser to Federal Government Minister Tanya Plibersek on a wide range of social issues including women’s, homelessness, the not-for-profit sector and social inclusion policies. Monika has also worked for the United Nations in Thailand, has managed violence prevention and response policies for NSW Health and is currently employed by the North Coast NSW Medicare Local to design and implement new approaches to primary health care delivery.

Among her achievements, Monika was responsible for leading the development of Australia’s first ever National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children on behalf of Tanya Plibersek; an internationally acclaimed domestic violence and sexual assault strategy which was recognised by the United Nations as best practise in 2011. Monika also played a key role in other landmark Commonwealth social policy initiatives such as the Homelessness White Paper which saw the largest investment in homelessness services in a generation, reforms to the not-for-profit sector, improvements to Australia’s Anti-People Trafficking Strategy and reforms to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.

Monika holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales and lives with her husband, Asren, and their daughter Acacia in Sydney.

Monika has a strong commitment to social justice, equality and diversity and was elected to the Evatt Foundation Executive Committee in 2010. She was the Secretary of the Foundation in 2011.